Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell | |
|---|---|
 O'Connell-Rodwell in 2018 | |
| Born | 1965 (age 59–60) |
| Occupation | Conservation biologist |
Caitlin Elizabeth O'Connell-Rodwell (born 1965) is an Americanconservation biologist and author.[1] She is an instructor atHarvard Medical School, scientific consultant, co-founder and chief executive officer ofUtopia Scientific, and an expert onelephants. Her elephant research was the subject of the Elephant King, an award-winning Smithsonian Channel documentary.[2]
Caitlin O’Connell received her B.Sc. inbiology atFairfield University in 1987 with a minor in French and art history and in 1991 her M.Sc. at theUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa in ecology, evolution and conservation biology, involving research onseismo-acoustic communication ofplanthoppers.[3]
In the course of three-year government contract involving efforts to mitigate conflicts between farmers andAfrican elephant, she observed that also the elephants performed seismo-acoustic communication. Based on five years of experiments with captive elephants in the United States, Zimbabwe and India,[3] she earned her Ph.D. inecology at theUniversity of California, Davis in 2000.[4] She has subsequently worked atStanford University Medical School as a postdoctoral fellow,[5] professor of creative science writing,[6] and instructor at its Department ofOtolaryngology.[4]
In October 2002, together with Timothy Rodwell, she foundedUtopia Scientific, a non-profit corporation inSan Diego that is dedicated to science and public health education. In spring 2013 she joinedGeorgia College as the inaugural Martha Daniel Newell Visiting Distinguished Scholar.[7]
O'Connell's work has focused on elephant communication and elephant societies.[7] At Stanford's Department of Otolaryngology, she investigated the possibility of developing a vibrotactile hearing aid inspired by her studies of the elephant vibrotactile sense, including thehearing-impaired and the profoundly deaf. Currently, she is funded by a National Institutes of Health grant to investigate the elephant middle ear and bone conduction hearing in relation to human hearing and bone conduction hearing aids[8][9] (For related approaches, see:Sensory substitution.)
In October 2007 she was awarded the Distinguished Young Alumna Award of the University of California, Davis.
The bookThe elephant scientist, which she wrote together with Donna M. Jackson and for which she and her husband Timothy C. Rodwell provided the photographs, received theSibert Medal in 2012.
She received the Outstanding Science Trade Book award 2012 and theJunior Library Guild Selection 2011.[4]
Caitlin O'Connell(-Rodwell) is author of numerous peer-reviewed articles and several popular science books.
Academic books:
Popular science books:
She has published numerous contributions in the media, among others inScientific American,National Geographic magazine,National Geographic Channel,Africa Geographic magazine,Discovery Channel,Discover Magazine,Science News,Fox Channel,BBC Online,The Writer andSmithsonian magazine.[4]
Websites on Caitlin O'Connell
Publications about Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell:
Popular science reading and lectures by Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell:
